Wednesday, June 15, 2022
John Breeden
Harrisonburg, VA
The Harrisonburg Turks took a lopsided 12-2 victory in seven innings over the Staunton Braves
Tuesday night at John Moxie Stadium. The win moves them to 5-4 this season and 3-1 on the
road.
“It felt good to finally break it [the lead] open and get the offense firing on all cylinders,” second
baseman Matthew Mamatas said.
Center fielder Sam Schner (Florida Tech) got on base on a four-pitch walk to start the game and
later scored on a sacrifice fly for the first run of the game.
The Braves responded with Joe Delossantos (William & Mary) driving in a run on an RBI single. Staunton took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first after Nicolas Rodriguez (Charleston Southern U) scored on a sacrifice fly.
Starting pitcher Jacob McClure was replaced by Casey Smith (James Madison) in the bottom of
the first after throwing two walks and two HBPs. “It was a little different coming in the first inning,” Smith said. “[I] just went in there trying to throw strikes, do my job [and] get out of the situation.
The Turks tied the game in the top of the second after right fielder Bradley Bott (UNCG) notched his first RBI of the season on a single. With the bases loaded in the top of the third, Mamatas (GA Southwestern St) hit a three-run RBI double to give the Turks a 5-2 lead. Mamatas said it took a few games to adjust to the wooden bats and that it’s all about finding the right pitches. “It’s a totally different game, you don’t see as many balls flying out of the yard,” Mamatas said.
Harrisonburg added to its lead in the top of the fourth with Bott scoring on an RBI single from
shortstop Seaver King (Wingate). Designated hitter Mitch Farris (Wingate) also drove in an RBI
single to give the Turks a 7-2 advantage. Mamatas said taking advantage of the Braves’ fielding
errors was a “big feat” in earning the win.
“They had two early ones [errors] and we kinda sensed the blood in the water,” Mamatas said.
“We didn’t let up, we took advantage of basically every opportunity that they gave us.”
The Turks scored six runs in the top of the sixth. King and Christian Ficca (Georgetown U) hit
singles and advanced to second and third on a sacrifice bunt from Farris. King scored on a
Braves fielding error and another fielding error drove in two more runs — giving the Turks a 10-2 lead. Schner added to the lead with an RBI single, driving catcher Jake Stadler (Purdue) home.
The Turks increased their lead to ten in the top of the seventh as Farris scored on a sacrifice fly.
Harrisonburg won the game after seven innings with the 12-2 victory. Smith held his ground on
the mound, throwing six strikeouts and not allowing any runs in 6.1 innings pitched.